


do better

by kyouyaed



Series: the mirevage dynamic [1]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Manipulation, Manipulative Relationship, Mirage kind of has a crush on Revenant but doesn't really realize it, Slightly More Violent and Bloody Than Is Canon-Typical, a lot of throat stabbing in this actually?, it's subtle but worth mentioning here in case it's something you're not up for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyouyaed/pseuds/kyouyaed
Summary: "How did that kill feel?" Revenant asks, and Mirage feels his mouth go dry.//The Apex Arena is absolutely brutal, but it's carefully controlled, and Mirage knows how to handle the killing. Except for today, apparently.//
Series: the mirevage dynamic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625980
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63





	do better

**Author's Note:**

> i killed someone in game and Revenant asked me, "how did that kill feel?" and that's the story of how this fic happened. also im trash and that's that.
> 
> this is my first real writing for Apex, so please treat me kindly!
> 
> and PLEASE heed the warnings and the tags!!! I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable or upset by this!
> 
> (this is unedited. all mistakes are my own! will edit when i can!)

Mirage has killed before. It's almost legally impossible for him to not have killed, given the fact that it's in his contract and he participates in the Apex Games every single match. So yes, he's killed. But he's never really… Enjoyed it. He's not here for the kills, and he is very showy with his finishers to distract from the fact that every day he's forced to gun down people he's come to care about.

(The dramatics help. The money is what really helps, though. The blood on his hands, the bodies he's piled up just to win, the stink of gunpowder that he still can't get out from under his nails… Yeah, he has to keep himself distracted.)

Killing isn't fun. Showing off, winning, being cheesy and charming and maybe getting a few good hits here and there, that's what's fun for him. The fame, knowing people love seeing him succeed, he lives for it. The killing gets him there, sure, but if he could get out of that particular part of the games he would.

On the other hand …

Elliott's gaze lands on his squadmates for the day. Caustic is gassing Octane kind of brutally, and Revenant, the simulacrum who Mirage can't seem to shake but doesn't entirely mind, is picking loot off of Lifeline's lifeless body. Mirage tries not to flinch as the simulacrum in question carelessly kicks Ajay's body so she's lying on her front, giving him access to her weapons.

Caustic throws Octane's body to the ground. "Pathetic," he says with a cough. "He was weak and unfocused. But watching him die was…" Elliott is mildly disgusted by the way Caustic shudders at whatever thought is going through his head.

Do they have to bask in it so obviously?

"Who is left?" Revenant snaps, finally stepping away from Lifeline's body. Elliott can't help but look her over, checking that her banner is still safely in place for recovery later. "Speak."

He jumps and stumbles at the closeness of Revenant's voice, those cold orange eyes suddenly centimeters from his face.

"Holy shit, Rev," Elliott breathes as he regains his footing. He ignores the subtle twitch of the simulacrum's hand at the nickname, and says, "I think uh, they just had Bangalore on their squad." He eyes the banners on their fellow legends again.

Revenant stands to his full height and tilts his head back. Elliott mimics him, watching the glow of the Harvester paint everything red.

And then Caustic lets out a string of curses at the same time as the sound of bullets rips through the air.

Elliott easily slips back into Mirage and sends a decoy Caustic's way, tucking and rolling behind a rock. Revenant starts shooting and he can hear one of Caustic's gas traps filling up.

"You guys are really somethin', huh?" Bangalore's voice calls as smoke drops down on them. "Sickos. Really shouldn't let the two of you be on a team." Caustic swears again and Bangalore lets out a humorless laugh. "Downed one," she announces.

Mirage takes a deep breath as the smoke begins to clear. He hates being up against Anita like this but… His eyes flicker across the rock wall he's facing; the cameras are everywhere, and he doesn't have a choice.

"Talk, talk, talk," Mirage calls out, flicking his wrist to send out a holograph. It's shot almost instantly.

"Do better," taunts Bangalore. Mirage can't help but grin at the familiar banter.

"You want better?" he replies. "Alright!" He turns and scrambles up the rock he'd hidden behind and takes only a second to survey the field.

Caustic is dead under the train tracks, Revenant is nowhere in sight, and Bangalore is smirking at him, aiming down her sights.

"Decoooooy Escape~!"

His hand smashes the familiar button on his wrist and he ducks at the same time, barely dodging the headshot from Bangalore's G7.

His decoys scatter as he gets cloaked and he makes a dive towards Bangalore, skirting her as she fires at the spaces between his decoys. She knows him too well. Mirage slips behind her and smirks as he de-cloaks.

The barrel of his alternator presses against the base of her skull, and he says, "Better?"

And even in this position, Anita "Bangalore" Williams laughs.

"Almost, shooter. Almost."

Something falls from her hand, then, and Mirage lets out an unpleasant curse as he registers the homing device for her artillery. She laughs as he withdraws his gun and slides down the hill, sprinting for cover near Caustic's body. Mirage snags his teammate's banner, holding it close as the missiles hit the ground.

"Rev where the hell are you?" Mirage hisses, sliding passed the tracks to get away from the air strike.

The sound of a triple take is his answer and Mirage chances a glance up at the train cars dangling above the train yard. Revenant is crouched there, aiming carefully at where Bangalore last was.

Mirage takes a deep breath and crouches, taking the chance to shove a syringe in the sliver of skin between his jacket and his glove. He sighs at the cool feeling of the medication and rolls his shoulders as it settles in his bloodstream and fills him with energy.

Another shot from the triple take rings out, and Mirage shrieks when Revenant drops down beside him.

"She's downed."

"Great!" Mirage exclaims, trying to not show how relieved he is that he doesn't have to kill her. "Go uh, go, go finish her off so we can celebrate and what not!" Mirage gives Revenant his best grin.

"You will finish her."

The grin drops. Revenant gives Mirage a push and he falls into a slide back under the train tracks. Bangalore is there, holding her knee with one hand, shield protectively up in the other.

Carefully, Mirage climbs to his feet. This time he doesn't look for the cameras. His fingers linger over his Holo-Pilot, debating which finisher to use. He shakes himself out of his thoughts as Revenant slides next to him, rising gracefully ( _beautifully_ , Mirage thinks for just a fraction of a moment though he tries not to linger on _that_ thought) beside him.

"Use this," Revenant orders, grabbing Mirage's hand away from his wrist. He drops a shimmering knife in his hands. No. Not a knife… A…

_Wraith's eyes are cold as she stares down the towering simulacrum who lets out a cruel, synthetic laugh before plunging his deadly sharp fingers through her throat._

It's a kunai. Mirage feels his mouth go dry.

"No," he says before he can even think to filter his thoughts. "This is Wraith's."

"Yes," Revenant seems to muse. "I took it from the Void Walker's corpse." The grip on Mirage's chin is forceful and he is made to look right at Revenant's face. "Use. It." The grip stays, and Revenant's thumb slides across Mirage's mouth. "Or I will."

Mirage jerks away and looks at Bangalore at their feet. She's glaring hatefully at Revenant.

This time, Mirage does look for cameras. He has to perform, and he has to be a team player, and… He's seen what Revenant can do given the time. He's seen the pain he likes to inflict, the needless torture the game makers won't stop because it's showy. Mirage has seen his fellow legends at Revenant's mercy and heard their pain.

He has to put on a show while he finishes off Bangalore, or Revenant will instead.

So Mirage makes himself laugh. "You got it, Rev," he ignores the way Revenant's fingers curl tightly. "One impeak… Impockab… One perfect finisher coming right up!"

It's a practiced motion to kick the knockdown shield out of Bangalore's hand. He's done it hundreds if not thousands of times before, and it clatters loudly against a rock. He focuses his gaze on Bangalore's forehead, right above her nose so he doesn't have to see that accusing gaze.

Mirage kicks her back and steps forward. Revenant makes a sound behind him, and Mirage continues to grin. His cheeks hurt, and he does something he's never done before, and has never even considered before he met Revenant.

He uses his next step to step firmly down on the gunshot wound in Bangalore's knee. Revenant makes that sound again, louder this time, and Mirage crouches in front of Bangalore, weight dropping onto her injury.

She makes a pained sound, and it takes a lot for Mirage to not jump back and find a way out of this.

But it's in his contract and he has to put on a show and Revenant makes that sound again when Bangalore lets out a choked cry of pain and Mirage can at least privately admit that he wouldn't mind hearing that sound from Revenant again.

"Hey, uh," Mirage laughs that practiced laugh, "don't come back to haunt me, yeah?"

In an awkward move that shows how unused to this kind of thing he is, Mirage shoves the kunai into Bangalore's throat. He lets out a startled sound and leaps back at the spray of blood.

He slips in his haste, and prematurely lets out an, "ow!" as he falls. Instead of painfully sharp rocks in his elbows, though, he only feels sharp, cool metal.

"Good." It takes a moment for Mirage to identify the sound Revenant makes. "Very good," the simulacrum purrs. Mirage swallows and then flinches when Revenant lowers his face so his chin is resting against Mirage's shoulder.

Mirage licks his lips uncertainly and focuses on the parts of Revenant's face that he can see without turning his head.

"No," scolds his teammate. "Look at her. Watch her eyes. She's in so much pain." Mirage closes his eyes. " _I said look_." The order is so harsh that Mirage cannot do anything but obey. For the first time since Revenant put that kunai in his hand, Mirage makes eye contact with Bangalore. "Look what you've done to her. Look. Look at her, _Elliott_. She's dying. The light is fading from her eyes. You did that to her, and you wear her blood as a banner." Revenant's laugh rumbles through Mirage as he's pulled closer to his lithe body. "Human life… So feeble. Taken just like that…"

They stand there in silence as Bangalore bleeds out at their feet, Wraith's prized kunai lodged in Bangalore's throat.

**YOU ARE THE APEX CHAMPIONS.**

"How did that kill feel?" Revenant purrs. He laughs as Mirage goes limp in his arms. "You will learn to enjoy it."

**Author's Note:**

> a lot of this (re: all of this) is based on a lot of my friend and my's headcanons of relationships, interactions, dynamics, etc within the Apex Legends universe. so that's why it is the way it is.


End file.
